Bishop for Armed Services, Federal Ministries to Visit Rochester

By:

Matthew Townsend

ROCHESTER - The Rt. Rev. James B. “Jay” Magness, Episcopal Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Services and Federal Ministries, will visit Rochester on May 22 and 23, 2013. During his visit, there will be at least two opportunities for members of the community and clergy to talk with Bishop Magness about ministries for veterans and prisoners.

Interfaith Discussion: Helping Veterans Find HopeOpen to the publicMay 22, 2013 at 6 p.m.Christ Church Parish Hall, 141 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14604 - Parking in lot south of church on Lawn St. (accessible from Chestnut St.)

Veterans face many challenges in returning from deployment. Join Bishop Jay Magness and members of the ecumenical and interfaith communities for a discussion of how to help veterans find hope through our faith traditions. Through his work as Episcopal Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Services and Federal Ministries, Bishop Magness has built considerable expertise in reaching out to veterans and active duty personnel in an interfaith context. This discussion and brainstorming session will help give your place of worship ideas for reaching out to veterans through mission and ministry.

Episcopal and ELCA members of the clergy are invited to join the Rt. Rev. Jay Magness, Episcopal Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Services and Federal Ministries, for a Lunch & Learn discussion. Many parishes have members impacted by military service and incarceration, but clergy don’t always have the tools to serve and minister to these congregants. This is a great opportunity to talk with Bishop Magness about his experience and to learn new ways to reach out to these members of Christ’s body.

About Bishop MagnessIn March 2010, the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church elected Magness to be the VI Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Services and Federal Ministries. In June 2010 at Washington National Cathedral, he was consecrated by the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori as a Bishop to serve this episcopacy. Bishop Magness’ span of responsibility is for Episcopal chaplains and their congregations in the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Most recently, in January 2012 Bishop Magness was seated by the Presiding Bishop as Canon for Federal Ministries at Washington National Cathedral. Currently he serves as a member of the Committee for Anglican International Peace and Justice.

At the time of his election he was serving in the Diocese of Southern Virginia as the Bishop’s Canon for Mission and Diocesan Administration in the Diocese of Southern Virginia, Norfolk, VA. Prior to that in 2007, Bishop Magness had been called to be the rector interim for Galilee Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, VA. In this position he provided pastoral and transitional leadership to a parish of over 1,200 members, enabling them to create a new and healthy vision for their future. In 2004, Bishop Magness joined the Diocese of Kentucky as the Bishop’s Canon to the Ordinary. His duties were to assist his Bishop as the director of diocesan staff, deployment/transition officer and diocesan operating officer.

Bishop Magness retired from the U.S. Navy in 2003 in the rank of Captain, serving as command chaplain of U.S. Joint Forces Command and Fleet Chaplain for the U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Prior to those assignments, from 1997 to 2000 he was on the Navy Chief of Chaplains’ staff working as personnel manager of the Navy Chaplain Corps. Serving as a Navy chaplain, however, was not his initial career plan. Bishop Magness first joined the Navy as an enlisted person in 1966. During his enlisted service he served aboard three Navy ships and spent one year serving with a forward ashore logistics command in the northernmost port of South Vietnam.